Oil-press mat.



No.,'790,606. Y 'PATENTED MAY23,1905. R. F. WERK.

OIL PRESS MAT. APPLICATION IILED JUN 26, 1902. I

//VVENTOR A TTOHNE Y8.

UNITED JilSTATES Patented May 23, 19b 5.

PATENT OFFICE.

OIL-PRESS MAT.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,606, dated May 23, 1905.

.T aZZ whom it-may concern;

Be it known that I, ROBERT FRANZ VVERK,

' a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New Orleans,in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oil-Press Mats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to oil-press mats or cloths; and it forms a division of a prior application for Letters Patent filed by me on September 10, 1901, Serial No. 74,906.

In the manufacture of oil-press mats it is desirable to use animal hair for the warp and weft threads or strands, because a mat of this character possesses good drainage qualities and results in the production of a large quantity of oil which is free from sediment, and therefore does not require subsequent filtration. Mats or cloths made of hair also provide glossy surfaces, which facilitates the stripping of the mat from the compressed material and allows the introduction of a formed cake into the press to good advantage.

The object that I have in view in the present invention is the production of a hair mat or cloth for use in oil-presses which is capable of a certain amount of pliability in a longitudinal direction, whereby the formation of a cake of the compressed material is facilitated.

The improved mat has its parts so arranged as to afford protection to the weft-threads, to reduce the tendency of the selvage tounravel, and to enable the mat to be folded longitudinally at any line without breaking or giving way in any of its threads or strands.

The invention consists of an oil-press mat composed of long animal hair, the warpthreads of the fabric being composed of hard, stiff, and coarse hair mixed with soft pliable hair and the weft-threads being composed of hard, stiff, and coarse hair, said warp-threads being greatly in excess of the weft-threads and in close proximity to each other to cover and protect the weft threads, said warp threads forming the selvage, consisting of soft Original application filed September 10, 1901, Serial No. 74,906. Divided and this application filed June 26,1902 Serial No, 113,262.

horsehair pressmats1,'. a, the liability to unravel. By using soft hair in connection with hard. hair in the warp the 'mat is rendered more pliable, good drainage for the oil is'secu red, the mat can be easily stripped from the compressed material, and increased duradinal warp strands or threads A, a proper number of warp-strands B at the selvage, and a series of weft-threads (1.

Previous to weaving the fabric adapted to form the mat or cloth the strands A B G are made from hair in the following manner: The warp-threads to form the main portion or body of the mat each consists of long animal hair, some of which is hard, stiff, and coarse, while the remainder of the hair is soft and pliable, the two kinds of hair being mixed in suitable proportion. The hard and soft pieces of hair are properly mixed together and spun or interwoven into astrand or thread having the proper length and thickness. In mixing and spinning the hard hair mixed with soft hair it is quite diflicult to keep the mixture in a uniform condition, because some threads are comparatively hard, while others are much softer. This operation produces a cloth having the appearance of alternate stripes of soft hair. In the production of the warp-threads I may employ hair of medium texture; but as a suitable quantity of this character is not readily obtainable I prefer to secure the same result by mixing long strands of hard hair with corresponding strands of soft hair, thus producing a product which is known in the technical phraseology of hair manufacturers as a medium grade of hair.

The warp-threads which form the selvage B of the mat consist of soft hair, the same being properly selected and twisted together to form the strands or threads. The weftthreads C consist of long animal hair, which is hard, stiff, and coarse, the same being twisted or spun to produce strands or threads of the proper length; but these weft-threads preferably exceed in thickness the warpthreads which are used in the body and the selvage of the fabric, although the increased thickness of the hard-hair weft-threads is not important.

Having prepared the threads adapted to form the warp and weft of the fabric, I next proceed to weave the fabric by arranging the Warp-threads A B in parallel relation to each other, while the weft-threads C extend transversely across the mat and are so interwoven with the warp-threads as to be protected and concealed thereby. The warp-threads greatly exceed in number the weft-threads, and I have found it desirable to increase the warp-threads from five to eight times per square inch of the weftthreads, this arrangement of the threads tending to distribute the pressure more evenly over the weft-threads. The increased number of warp-threads prevents the seeds from being pressed through the mat and acting on the warp-threads, which are intended to afford acushion for the weft-threads.

The use of hard coarse hair in the warp of the fabric secures a mat having the desired strength at a place where the article is subjected to the greatest pressure, and the warpthreads of the soft hair in the selvage reduce the pressure on that part of the mat which is liable to give way when the article is in use between the plates and the substance in a press. The soft selvage-threads prevent the mat from unraveling at the edge portions thereof, and the life and durability of the cloth and mat is thereby prolonged.

The hair which forms the warp-threads at the middle portion of the mat is longer than the hair in the warp-threads at or near the selvage of the fabric, and this is advantageous, because the longer hair in the warpthreads secures increased resistance in that portion of the mat which is most exposed to the pressure of the compressed material and the press-plates.

The improved mat has its weft-threads protected from contact with the seeds by the closely grouped warp threads, so that the seeds cannot penetrate the mat and sever the warp-threads. At the same time the mat may be folded longitudinally at any line, because the weft-threads are so disposed that they will not offer a resistance to the folding of the mat along the line of the increased number of warp-threads.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. An oil-press cloth or mat, consisting of a fabric of long animal hair, the warp-threads of said fabric being composed of hard, still and coarse hair mixed with soft pliable hair, and the weft-threads being composed of hard, stiff and coarse hair, said warp-threads exceeding the number of the weft-threads and disposed in close proximity to each other to entirely conceal and protect the weft-threads; the warp-threads forming the selvage consisting of soft pliable hair.

2. An oil-press mat or cloth consisting of warp-threads and weft-threads, both composed of long animal hair, the warp-threads forming the selvage of the mat being made of soft, pliable hair, and the warp-threads in the body of said mat being composed of hard, stiff and coarse hair, mixed with soft, pliable hair, the weft consisting of hair which is hard, stiff and coarse.

3. An oil-press cloth consisting of a fabric composed of long animal hai r, the war p-th roads of said fabric having hard, stiff and coarse hair, mixed with soft, pliable hair, said warpthreads exceeding the weft-threads in number per inch, and the warp-threads forming the selvage being composed of soft, pliable hair.

4. An oil-press mat consisting of warpthreads composed of mixed hair, and weftthreads composed of hard hair.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBER" FRANZ VVERK.

Witnesses:

R. H. HOWELL, FRANK MoGovERN. 

